It's probably just the fumes
by Crimson Rogue
Summary: GriffinxJill. It was a normal day at the Blue bar, until Jill came stumbling in covered in mud and bruises.. Why does she have to be so iatrophobic? And why does Griffin's pulse quicken everytime she smiles in his direction? I stink at summaries..


_Author's notes: Wow, it's been awhile since I last wrote a piece of fan fiction… Hopefully I'm not TOO rusty.. xD Anyways, I must warn you that this story does contain elements of the GriffinxJill pairing. Oh and before I forget, I have no plans to turn this into a full blown multi-chapter piece of fan fiction. It was intended to be a oneshot and will remain as such._

_P.S. I stink at writing opening paragraphs and summarys, and I'm SURE that this is rampant with grammatical and spelling mistakes. xP_

_Iatrophobia - The fear of doctors and/or the fear of going to see them._

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Wiping a handful of beads of sweat from his forehead with his arm, Griffin let out a labored sigh. Why was it that his normally clean bar seemed to attract filth of every kind during the daytime? The sheer amount of dirt, dust, and various other unmentionables that the bottles of alcohol in the bar seemed to acquire each day was mind boggling.. If he didn't know any better he would probably come to the conclusion that Murrey was sneaking in every morning and trashing the place.. But then again Murrey had better things to do, like stealing gold from certain unfortunate farmers, than to trash his place of business…

"Oh well…" He mumbled slightly, putting his cleaning supplies up in one of the nearby cabinets. "At least they're all clean now.." And just in time it seemed as he briefly glanced at his wristwatch, it was almost time to open the bar.

As if to reinforce his statement, Muffy suddenly came gliding through the front door, her mouth fixed into a rather pleased grin. Now, Muffy was usually a very cheerful young woman, but when she had that kind of grin on her face one couldn't help but wonder if something terrible was about to occur. It didn't help that Griffin was all too aware of what that kind of look could potentially entail... After all he still couldn't even so much as look Vesta in the eye after the last time Muffy had sauntered into the bar with that very look.. Shuddering slightly, Griffin decided it would be best for his mental health if he tried to ignore the look and greet the blonde haired woman. "How was your day?" He asked, trying to derail the potential threat by starting up a conversation.

... Was it just him, or did the grin on her face grow even wider than before? "Oh. It was alright." She chirped out, practically skipping over to the counter and taking up her usual place near the end. "You know Griffin... You have a habit of talking in your sleep.." Muffy's eyes twinkled mischievously, as if she knew something that he didn't. "Oh?" He replied, all the while silently beginning to pray for one of the bar's regulars to come strolling through the door and save him within the next few seconds.

Muffy nodded slightly, all the while looking like a cat that finally cornered a small canary. "Why yes. You didn't know? How sad..." Her face dropped into a mock look of sympathy, all the while her eyes continued to flash mischievously. "Even so... Mind if I inquire as to why you were mumbling about a certain bru..." As she was about to go in for the kill, she was thankfully interrupted by the sound of the front door swinging open.

"Hello.. Are you guys open yet..?" Jill's barely audible voice croaked from the doorway. Too say Griffin had never been happier to see the overworked farm girl would have been an understatement. "Of course." He managed to get out, flashing her a grateful look. All the while Muffy huffed slightly at being ignored, though her mood evaporated immediately when she caught sight of the female farmer.

"Jill, you look like hell." Was the first thing out of her mouth as the young brunette positioned herself on top one of the new wooden barstools that they had just installed. (1) And sadly, it was the truth. Mud and dirt caked nearly every inch of the brunette's skin and clothing, barely covering a myriad of bruises that ran down her arms, legs, and hands. Her hair was also in disarray, going every which way like an untamable mass... How anyone could feasibly walk around in such a ragged state was beyond the blonde haired woman's comprehension. Then again, this was the hardworking farmer that they were talking about.. By now Muffy was used to seeing her friend dragging herself into the bar each day in a similar state only to go back to work barely an hour later..

"I feel like hell..." Jill replied with a groan.. "First Ragnarok decided to throw me (2) clear out of the saddle and onto the paved roadway in the middle of town, which gave me several nice bruises all over my body.. I also had to spend the entire day smashing rocks with my hammer because I have my eye on that new extension for my house and can't afford to pay Gotz to supply the materials himself.. Then..."

"Ok, ok, I get it..! You'd had a bad day." Muffy attempted to quiet her friend with an uneasy grin. "At least you went and saw Hardy for all those bruises right...?" Silence was her only answer. "Oh, for the love of... JILL! You need to take better care of yourself..! I have half a mind to drag you down to Hardy's clinic myself right now, and..."

Jill just blinked tiredly as she watched Muffy launch into one of her patented rants. She had heard it all before.. It wasn't like she enjoyed getting banged up like this all the time, it was just that she really didn't feel very comfortable with the idea of going to ANY doctor for help... Even if said doctor was the lovable Dr. Hardy..

"Let me guess.. The usual?" Griffin decided to ask, knowing better than to pay Muffy any heed when she got in this state. Especially since she was starting to use more and more extravagant hand motions to get her points across... Muffy really could act like a worried mother hen at times he concluded with a shake of his head.

"Yes please..." Jill replied with a grateful smile, which he returned before moving toward the cabinets in the back to mix her order. Without a sound Jill closed her eyes with a sigh and tried to coax her aching muscles into loosening up. If someone had told her that farm life would have been this painful several months ago, she probably wouldn't have bothered taking over the farm... Alas for her poor body, nobody had given her any such warning, and now she was in far too deep to even consider backing out.. It wasn't long however until she was brought out of her musings by the sound of three glasses being placed in front of her.

"Here you go, three Bodiaids. On the house." Griffin stated with a kind grin. Jill wanted to protest and insist that she should pay for her drinks, but the aching in her limbs quickly silenced any attempts at arguing with the man.. _'Oh well..'_ She thought, _'At least this should take the edge off of the pain.'_ Gripping the nearest glass, she slowly brought it too her lips before taking a few sips.. Putting the aforementioned now half-empty glass down on the counter, Jill couldn't help but sigh in contentment. Trust Griffin to make the most delicious drinks in town.

Hearing her sigh, Griffin couldn't help but chuckle to himself. "I take it you're feeling better..?" It was then that he almost had to grab onto the bar counter for support when Jill nodded and turned his way, giving him one of her most dazzling smiles to show her appreciation. Damn, she was gorgeous when she smiled like that.. Wait... Why did he just think that...? Maybe the fumes from the alcohol were getting to him...

Unaware of what her smile had done to him, Jill set too finishing off her first glass before tackling the second one without so much as a pause. Already she could feel her body feeling lighter.. Though she knew better than to believe that the Bodiaids, as delicious as they were, would be a sufficient replacement for real medical care. Still, she'd rather take Griffin's concoctions and company over a visit to the clinic any day...

"You know Jill, you really need to take a break one of these days." Griffin managed to get out, still reeling from the smile he had received. _'Damn it, get yourself together you old pervert. She's far too young for you..' _

"I know.." She said with a tired groan.. "But who would take care of my animals while I was away..? It's not like anyone else in the Valley has experience with livestock.. It also doesn't help that Papaya's scheduled to give birth within the week.." As much as she would have killed for a vacation, her animals just meant too much too her. She also couldn't in good conscious not be present when her beloved cow Papaya delivered her first calf..

Griffin looked at her sympathetically. "Very true, maybe you could ask Rick from Mineral Town to come down and watch them for you?" Maybe nobody in the Valley would be a good choice to take care of her animals, but there were thankfully a handful of people in Mineral Town who would be good candidates for the job.

Jill nodded slightly.. Suddenly she looked away before finally speaking. "Would you...?" She started hesitantly, almost as if she was fearful of the answer she would get.

"Would I...?" He blinked, not sure of what she could possibly be asking of him that would cause such hesitation.

Swallowing ever so slightly, Jill fixed her eyes on the counter in front of her before speaking, "Would you.. Take care of Iliad and Kayan for me if I do end up asking Rick to take care of my animals..? He's nice and all, but Iliad and Kayan need to be around people they know and trust.. I fear if I leave them alone with Rick I may not come back and see him in one piece.." By the end of her question Jill had her eyes fixed on his own, her eyes pleading with him to help her out.

Too his credit, Griffin managed to keep a straight face even as his heart melted at the sight he was bearing witness too. "Of course I wouldn't mind. Your pets are always welcome here." '_And so are you'_, he added in his mind before he could stop himself.

"Thank you Griffin, I really appreciate it." The was something about the emotions brimming in her eyes as they looked at him that made him nervous. The look was just so tender and full of an emotion that he couldn't put his finger on.. He eventually had to turn away before her gaze consumed him and set about repeating a mantra in his mind. _'She's too young for you, she's too young for you...'_

"Of course, what are friends for?" Had he been still looking in her direction he would have seen her lips dipping into a sad frown. Alas, he was not, and by the time he did work up the nerve to turn back towards his guest she had turned her attention elsewhere. An uneasy silence stretched between them for several minutes before being broken once more by Jill, determined to change the subject and push her own feelings of disappointment to the furthest recesses of her mind.

"So... How long can Muffy keep one of these rants up before she realizes that no one is listening too her...?" She inquired, looking on as the blonde haired woman continued her tirade, a good twenty minutes having elapsed since she started.

"Last I checked, the current record is around two hours." Her companion replied, rather glad about the change in subject. "Still, I can't have her continuing on like this.. The rest of our customers are bound to come stumbling in soon, and the last thing anyone wants to see when they come into a bar is a woman ranting and raving like a perceived lunatic.." He sighed..

Jill finished her last drink before offering a reply to the worried bartender. "Is there any way to make her stop this time..?" She was used to Muffy usually burning herself out after an hour or so, but with other customers coming around so soon the tiny bar couldn't afford to have it's lovely waitress taking the time to calm down on her own.

"In my experience the only way to get her to stop..." He then turned towards Jill with a neutral yet determined look, sending goose bumps down her spine as she waited for him to finish his statement. "Jill, you need to let her take you to see Hardy."

Now, to be honest, Griffin had been expecting one of two reactions from Jill after that statement. Either she would start denying any need to see the kind doctor and potentially launch into one of her own rants, or she would panic and bolt through the front door before he had a chance to get any word in edge wise. So you can imagine how surprised he was when she merely nodded and got up stiffly from her barstool to appease the still ranting blonde. _'Well that was unexpected, is she angry with me...? I certainly hope not..'_

He must have gotten lost in his musings, because the next thing he heard was Muffy's voice triumphantly stating, "Well, we'll be going Griffin!", as she stood near the door with Jill in tow. The latter looking rather resigned to her fate.

"Be seeing you." He nodded at them tiredly. "Oh and Jill, thank you and I hope you're feeling better in the morning. Don't forget what I said about taking a break from your work sometime."

Jill nodded slightly. "Thanks, and I won't." She waved slightly and was about to walk out the door when Muffy suddenly leaned down and whispered something in her ear that caused her face to flame up. (3)

Griffin looked at the two suspiciously, he definitely didn't have a good feeling about this. His dread intensified when Jill suddenly turned towards him and walked to within less than a foot of where he was currently standing behind the bar..

Taking a deep breath as if to steel her resolve before saying, "Good night Griffin..", and then before he could even react the brunette haired girl had quickly leaned up and placed a small kiss on his right cheek. Then just as quickly turned around and managed to bolt out of the bar dragging a rather shocked yet pleased looking Muffy, who was yelling something along the lines of 'you go girl!', out of the door and towards the clinic.

Griffin stood there in a stupor. Had that just happened...? Or was his imagination and the fumes wafting off of the glass bottles of liquor behind him causing him to hallucinate? For the sake of his sanity he prayed that it really was the alcohol playing tricks on his mind...

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A/N: This was fun to write. XD Sorry if the characters are a little OOC. This is my first fanfiction in years, and there sadly are some places where I can now see that I've gotten rusty in.. You can also tell that I got tired towards the end.. Anyways, I hope you all at least liked some of it. x.x

(1). It bugged me that the bar didn't have any barstools in game.. So I decided to add them for the sake of this fanfic.

(2). Basically means that she got 'thrown' off of the horse while riding it. A more familiar phrase for it would be 'bucked off'. :P

(3). Muffy and Jill are good friends in my own game, and so Muffy is already well aware of Jill's own budding feelings for Griffin. The reason why she was so pleased earlier is because she finally has evidence that shows that Griffin might return the feelings, and saw a golden opportunity to get some information out of him. As for why she's acting so mischievous in this story.. It's because out of ALL the Valley girls, Muffy strikes me as the only one that would actually act this way in some capacity. I just can't see Lumina, Celia, Flora, or even Nami teasing Griffin mercilessly and then talking Jill into giving him a peck on the cheek out of amusement.

**P.S. Should I write another story for this pairing, I already have several new ideas, or was this one so bad that it would be better for all involved if I didn't? XD**


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